Methodology (Insect diversity in mustard crop

The mustard plant is a plant species in the genera Brassica and Sinapis in the family Brassicaceae.
Experiment location
The experiment was conducted at the near field of the house during the months of February -April of
2021.
Preparartion of plots
E.Sativa and B.rapa seeds were sown on two separate plots in the month of February 2021.The
dimensions of each plot was approximately 18*15m square .No pesticide was sprayed on the crops during
the whole experiments. There was a moderate cold during the months of February. The average air
temperature during the experimental period was 16.5 to 26.9 degree Celsius. All weeds and stubbies were
removed from the land. The land of the experiment was dug out of three times by ploughing and
harrowing. The fields trials were conducting from 1st march to till harvesting of various species. Sowing
was done 3-5 days after field Preparations. The seeds of total five species/varieties were sown in ‘split
Plot Design’ in square form. Each species /variety was sown in three rows at the space of 30 cm whereas
spacing between two respective species/varieties was kept in 60cm.
Irrigation, weeding and hoeing practices were done regularly. Harvesting was done in the month of April.
Observation
The observations were done regularly monitored at weekly intervals in 5 randomly selected plants from
each plot.
Observations on incidence of mustard Aphids and its natural enemies were recorded on 30 cm apical twig
at weekly interval by selecting 10 plants randomly from each subplot. Further, to assess the population of
other pests including beetles, grasshopper, mustard sawfly and flea beetles, bees 20 plants were selected
from each subplot and the population of the insects were counted visually in-situ at weekly intervals.
Monitoring of the incidence of insect pests and their natural enemies was carried out along with collection
of adult arthropods through sweep net methods.
Observations were recorded on five randomly selected plants for twelve different characters viz plant
height(cm) ,days of maturity, no of primary branches per plant, no of secondary branches per plant, no of
siliquae per plant, no of flower per plant on main branch ,no of seed per siliquae, weight of 50 seed per
species/variety ,total seed weight per plant and harvest index were observed during investigation.
Parasites that emerged out from eggs and larvae were counted.
At flowering stage of the crops the insect pollinators visiting the flowers were observed visually and were
collected through pictures/videos through the month of February to April. The collection of insect
pollinators was carried out through the flowering season of the crops. All the pictures of collected insects
through camera were labelled and kept in insect collection box. They were identified with the help of
internet, recent available literature. 3 leaves were chosen randomly on each plant, selecting one leaf each
from top, middle and bottom portion of plant. The lower surface of the leaf was thoroughly examined for
the presence of any insects. Each sample was examined separately without killing the insects and released
them in the same plot immediately after counting.
The data were recorded on weekly basis, data were collected in morning timing from 10.00-12.00 am and
afternoon time from 2.00 to 4.00 pm. The data on the abundance of pollinators were recorded from the
start of flowering season till the end.